Researcher(s):
Lex Shapiro
ENVS course(s): 400 Initiated: September 2016 Completed: May 2017 Go to project site
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In this project I examine the complex relationships between humans and the environment in a context where legal rights are extended to recognize pluralism within the human population, and granted to the beyond human world as Madre Tierra. In order to frame my research, I ask: How can histories of unequal power relationships be redressed? Using political ecology frameworks and postcolonial theories, I explore the power relations involved in environmental politics, conflicts and ethics, both in how they came to be and the current realities of ongoing events. By asking more specifically: How and why were constitutional and legislative rights given to Madre Tierra in Bolivia, and in what ways have they been realized? I explain the importance of our histories and how they continue to affect and implicate today.